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Offsetting anthropogenic carbon emissions from biomass waste and mineralised carbon dioxide.

ABSTRACT: The present work investigates biomass wastes and their ashes for re-use in combination with mineralised CO₂ in cement-bound construction products. A range of biomass residues (e.g., wood-derived, nut shells, fibres, and fruit peels) sourced in India, Africa and the UK were ashed and exposed to CO₂ gas. These CO₂-reactive ashes could mineralise CO₂ gas and be used to cement 'raw' biomass in solid carbonated monolithic composites. The CO₂ sequestered in ashes (125-414?g CO₂/kg) and that emitted after incineration (400-500?g CO₂/kg) was within the same range (w/w). The CO₂-reactive ashes embodied significant amounts of CO₂ (147-424?g equivalent CO₂/kg ash). Selected ashes were combined with raw biomass and Portland Cement, CEM 1 and exposed to CO₂. The use of CEM 1 in the carbonated products was offset by the CO₂ mineralised (i.e. samples were 'carbon negative', even when 10% w/w CEM 1 was used); furthermore, biomass ashes were a suitable substitute for CEM 1 up to 50% w/w. The approach is conceptually simple, scalable, and can be applicable to a wide range of biomass ashes in a closed 'emission-capture' process 'loop'. An extrapolation of potential for CO₂ offset in Europe provides an estimate of CO₂ sequestration potential to 2030.

SUBMITTER: Tripathi N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6976572 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Offsetting anthropogenic carbon emissions from biomass waste and mineralised carbon dioxide.

Tripathi Nimisha N Hills Colin D CD Singh Raj S RS Singh Jamuna S JS

Scientific reports 20200122 1

The present work investigates biomass wastes and their ashes for re-use in combination with mineralised CO2 in cement-bound construction products. A range of biomass residues (e.g., wood-derived, nut shells, fibres, and fruit peels) sourced in India, Africa and the UK were ashed and exposed to CO2 gas. These CO2-reactive ashes could mineralise CO2 gas and be used to cement 'raw' biomass in solid carbonated monolithic composites. The CO2 sequ ...[more]

PMID: 31969647

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Project description:The amine-rich surfaces of pyrolyzed human solid waste (py-HSW) can be "primed" or "regenerated" with carbon dioxide (CO2) to enhance their adsorption of ammonia (NH3) for use as a soil amendment. To better understand the mechanism by which CO2 exposure facilitates NH3 adsorption to py-HSW, we artificially enriched a model sorbent, pyrolyzed, oxidized wood (py-ox wood) with amine functional groups through exposure to NH3. We then exposed these N-enriched materials to CO2 and then resorbed NH3. The high heat of CO2 adsorption (Q st) on py-HSW, 49 kJ mol-1, at low surface coverage, 0.4 mmol CO2 g-1, showed that the naturally occurring N compounds in py-HSW have a high affinity for CO2. The Q st of CO2 on py-ox wood also increased after exposure to NH3, reaching 50 kJ mol-1 at 0.7 mmol CO2 g-1, demonstrating that the incorporation of N-rich functional groups by NH3 adsorption is favorable for CO2 uptake. Adsorption kinetics of py-ox wood revealed continued, albeit diminishing NH3 uptake after each CO2 treatment, averaging 5.9 mmol NH3 g-1 for the first NH3 exposure event and 3.5 and 2.9 mmol NH3 g-1 for the second and third; the electrophilic character of CO2 serves as a Lewis acid, enhancing surface affinity for NH3 uptake. Furthermore, penetration of 15NH3 and 13CO2 measured by NanoSIMS reached over 7 μm deep into both materials, explaining the large NH3 capture. We expected similar NH3 uptake in py-HSW sorbed with CO2 and py-ox wood because both materials, py-HSW and py-ox wood sorbed with NH3, had similar N contents and similarly high CO2 uptake. Yet NH3 sorption in py-HSW was unexpectedly low, apparently from potassium (K) bicarbonate precipitation, reducing interactions between NH3 and sorbed CO2; 2-fold greater surface K in py-HSW was detected after exposure to CO2 and NH3 than before gas exposure. We show that amine-rich pyrolyzed waste materials have high CO2 affinity, which facilitates NH3 uptake. However, high ash contents as found in py-HSW hinder this mechanism.

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Dataset Information

Offsetting anthropogenic carbon emissions from biomass waste and mineralised carbon dioxide.

Publications

Offsetting anthropogenic carbon emissions from biomass waste and mineralised carbon dioxide.

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